Chapter 23
Xander
I CAN GIVE HER EVERYTHING EXCEPT MY HEART
I stare at my knuckles as blood continues to trickle into the stream of cold water.
Fresh wounds.
My hand is swollen, but that will go down in a few hours. It always does.
The look in Brian’s eyes as I cut off one finger after another will stay in my memory forever.
When I moved to his lips and then his tongue, the screams that tore from him were like a melody to my blackened soul.
And when I carved my and Quinn’s initials into his chest inside of a heart, I felt so light and happy.
I’ve tortured and killed men before. So many times. I’ve just never enjoyed it quite like I did today.
When the water finally runs clear in the sink, I turn off the faucet and start the shower. The last thing Cash said to us before going our separate ways was that we better not be late for dinner because we got carried away torturing that piece of shit, and not to show up bloody.
By the time I’m dressed and have my knuckles somewhat wrapped up, I already know I’m going to be late. Fuck. My brother is going to hate me, but I don’t care. I take the main elevator down, hitting the fourth-floor button at the last minute as it moves toward the lobby.
Fucking Quinn was definitely a one-time thing.
But I need to see her. Just for a second before I head to dinner.
To make sure she’s okay. That she hasn’t fallen apart after that asshole attacked her.
To make sure I didn’t hurt her last night when I fucked her ass while she cried out for me.
Was I too rough with her? She’s so fragile. So precious.
She’s also strong. I see the scared little girl underneath the mask she wears for the world to see.
I see it and feel it. I want to protect her and nurture her in a way I don’t think she’s ever had before.
To wrap her up within the walls of my protection and rules and keep her locked away from the cruel world she’s spent too much time in.
I have to see her.
It will be worth Jordyn’s wrath.
At her door, I knock and wait, my skin crawling as each unanswered second ticks by.
I haven’t checked the camera feed today, but I assume she’s home since I fucked her into the wee hours of the morning.
I know she doesn’t have to work tonight.
More time passes without her answering. I knock again, harder this time.
Where the hell is she?
When I can’t stand it for another second, I reach out and put in the code.
As soon as the lock disengages, I open the door and scan the small apartment.
I don’t have to go inside to know she’s not here.
I can feel it. A sense of something important is missing.
And I don’t fucking like it. I also don’t like that she isn’t where she’s supposed to be.
Which is in her apartment, safe, where I know other men aren’t looking at her.
Or worse, thinking filthy fucking thoughts about what they want to do to her.
Without hesitating, I walk in and close the door behind me.
I shouldn’t be in here when she’s not home, yet I can’t seem to find it in me to care as I go to her room and look around at her feminine, sweet-smelling space.
Nothing in here is new. Paint is chipped off the dresser as it leans to the right slightly, and the bedframe could be from a whole other era.
But it’s cozy, and it screams Quinn. Just standing in this tiny room is more comforting than my entire four-thousand-square-foot apartment.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and when I pull it out and see Jordyn’s name on the screen, I turn to leave.
Fuck.
I’m officially late.
Just as I’m about to cross the threshold to the short hallway, I glance down and spot her nearly full laundry basket and stop.
I’ve seen all the rooms in her place, but I don’t remember noticing a washer and dryer.
Does she have to go down to the basement laundry room to wash her fucking clothes?
Glaring at the pile of clothes, I curl my hands into fists.
Goddammit. She works three jobs and is still struggling.
Why?
She shouldn’t have to work a day in her life.
If she were mine, she wouldn’t have to worry about anything. I’d dress her. Make sure she is fed. Taken care of. All she would have to think about is being my good girl.
Although right now, I’d like to spank her naughty ass for not telling me that she was going out.
I reach down and pick up the pink top she had on last night and bring it to my nose, inhaling the scent of her strawberry perfume. My cock throbs, and I have to adjust it before it gets strangled by my boxer briefs.
After taking several more sniffs, I go to put it back on top of the pile and stop when I notice the black lace panties I peeled off her.
They were soaked after she ground her hot, little pussy into them while riding my hand.
I pause and pick them up before dropping the shirt.
The second I bring them to my face, I groan and breathe in her sweet arousal.
Her cream is a stark contrast to their color.
She was so fucking wet for me, so ready and needy.
And fucking perfect. She fits me like she was made for me, and I’m starting to think she might be.
I take several more sniffs, my cock so hard that it’s painful.
She’s mine.
Instead of tossing the panties back, I shove them into my pocket and stride out of her apartment.
As I wait for the elevator, I pull up the camera feed on my phone and search through today’s footage.
When I find the spot that she came out of her apartment, I slow it down, my hand tightening around the thin device as I watch Quinn emerge from her doorway, dressed up like she’s going out somewhere.
Not quite as sexy as what she wears to work, but fuck, she looks too damn good to be leaving her place without me.
Where the hell is she going in those skin-tight black ripped jeans, tight white tank top, and worn, checkered Vans with her curled hair bouncing wildly around her shoulders?
Her red lipstick from last night has been replaced with a blush pink one that makes her look innocent.
That only makes me want those lips wrapped around my cock even more, her saliva dripping off her chin while she stares up at me with her big, beautiful eyes.
Blood rushes in my ears, my skin hot from my simmering rage as I watch her walk out of the lobby with no one to protect her from this fucked-up world.
Not only do I not know where she’s going, not knowing who she might see while looking like a walking wet dream, her wide ass swaying, makes me want to murder someone all over again.
As soon as I get into my car, I find Beckett’s contact in my phone and press call. He picks up, and the sound of voices in the background starts to fade as if he’s walking away from them.
“Hey, bro. You know you’re late, right? And Jordyn is actually going to murder you when you get here.”
After starting my car, I let it run for a second before I shift into gear and back out of my space. I wonder which space Quinn parks in.
Fuck. I didn’t think about having her car brought home last night. What’s wrong with me?
Her health and well-being were my only fucking concerns after I found her in that hallway.
Then killing that bastard who dared to touch her was all I could think about.
And fuck me, my dick gets hard just thinking about torturing that piece of shit all over again.
Maybe I let him die too quickly. The next one won’t get off so easily.
But after I talk to Beckett, no other man will ever get close enough to touch her again, as far as I’m concerned.
Not even if she wants it. While I can’t give her what she deserves, I can’t allow another man to, either. I just can’t.
“I’m on my way,” I snap. “I need one of our best guys exclusively for bodyguard duty from now on. Whatever salary he wants, I’ll pay out of my own pocket.”
Beckett is silent for a second before it sounds like he closes a door somewhere in Cash’s house.
“I’m pretty sure I know who you want a bodyguard for, but why don’t you tell me anyway?” he finally says, dripping with sarcasm.
This asshole. He’s always been such a dick.
As the youngest, he was always babied by my parents, and it went to his head that he could do or say anything with no fucking consequences.
Once he got older, Kian, Cash, and I started beating his ass, but he just became a good fighter and more arrogant when he won against us.
One of these days, someone is going to fuck up his whole world, and I hope like hell I’m around to see it.
“It’s for Quinn. She was attacked last night, asshole.
The least we can do is give her protection so she feels safe walking around our casinos.
” My fingers tighten around the steering wheel as I speed up on the interstate.
“Who do you recommend? I want to be the one to brief him on the requirements.”
Because if the guy so much as breathes in her direction, I will slaughter him in an actual meat factory and then put his flesh through the hamburger grinder and send his mother the packages as a gift marked from her son.
“Of course you do. Keep in mind you’re the COO, and our teams have always been nothing but professional.
Besides, the guy I’m thinking of is former special forces.
He went on to work for the Secret Service before Caleb convinced him it was more fun working in Sin City.
You can hold your own, but I still don’t think you want to cross this guy. ”
For Quinn, I’ll cross anyone who wrongs her. There are no lines as to who I’ll destroy for her. I don’t think she’s ever had a protector, but that ends now. What we had was only supposed to be one night.
But there’s only one major problem with that.